He’d become my chemical addiction as much as my physical one. Smelling him affected me in a way that wouldn’t have made sense to me a month ago. Maybe my years spent in a gym had warped my nose to the point that I’d become accustomed to taking the measure of a man by his sweat molecules. Or perhaps I was more beast than human.
“Where did you get these, Carly?” Though I already knew.
A wisp of memory slid through my mind. Being held from behind, warm breath fluttering against my neck. Softly rumbled words that caused me to fall deeper into sleep. And then, when the memory tried to surface, I’d filed it away as a dream. One of the best I’d ever had.
But the truth was weighing down my hand.
My sister’s mouth opened and shut, then she went back to coughing and gesturing to her throat. “Sorry. Can’t…talk.”
“Uh-huh.” I fingered the price tag still tucked discreetly in the mouth of the sheepskin-lined glove. Thick and soft, just the way I liked them. “Next time he tells you to pretend something is yours, remind him to take off the price tag.”
She blinked at me, probably bracing herself for my reaction. Yeah, well, I was bracing myself too.
“Were you going to slide them in my bag and hope I didn’t notice? Or maybe slip them in the pocket of my hoodie and figure I’d be cold enough not to question where they came from?” I tugged at my hood and tried not to resent it because it wasn’t well-worn leather. I’d been tempted to wrap myself in Fox’s warmth, but I’d already grown too dependent on him chasing away the chill. Whether it was his arms or his coat, it didn’t matter.
“No. They’re mine. Give them back.” She yanked the gloves away and started to slip them on her obviously way too small hands.
“If you get cheese on them, he won’t be able to return them.” I grabbed them again. “I don’t appreciate you being his flunky, by the way.”
“I’m no one’s flunky. He’s a nice guy.” She shrugged and snatched a fry dripping with cheese. “You need a nice guy in your life. One who screws you blind then sneaks over and holds you in the night and buys you pretty gloves.” She shrugged again. “So I peeked inside your room. I had to make sure he wasn’t murdering you in your sleep, didn’t I?”
A laugh escaped me, one I quickly smothered with my palm. I couldn’t let this go. I had to summon my inner bad ass before Tray Knox broke me completely.
“No more of this.” I slapped the gloves against my hand, savoring the crack of leather. “He said he didn’t want to see me anymore, and he’s right, we shouldn’t. There’s no reason to. So I’m not accepting his gifts or his late night visits or his—”
“Spooning?” She smirked.
Warmth climbed up my throat. “If he comes over, don’t let him in. I’m serious. He’s the guy I’m going to beat. That’s all.”
“Ame—”
“Don’t ‘Ame’ me. Do you want to have enough money to go to college or not?”
“No.” She averted her gaze. “I really don’t. And I especially don’t if you’re going to blow something that could really be good for you when I’m plenty old enough to make my own choices and pay my own way.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying stop hiding behind me.”
Carly’s eyes were bluer than I’d ever seen them. She so rarely got mad, unlike me. And judging from the tightness of her mouth, she was freaking pissed.
“Who’s hiding?” My voice had gone thin and high.
“You can make all the excuses you want for why you can’t have a real relationship, but I’ll be damned if I’m one of them.” She jerked to her feet and dumped the fries I’d barely touched in the garbage. “Let’s go. I’m sick of the mall.”
Rising stiffly, I grabbed my share of the bags and fought the swell of anger constricting my throat—and the wedgie trying to climb up my butt, thanks to the stupid boy shorts Carly had insisted I wear out of the store with my sexy-for-no-purpose bra.
I trudged beside my sister, ignoring the insistent pain in my foot. Fox was right about my tendency to block kicks with my feet. But that didn’t mean I needed his stupid trainer to set me straight. I’d handle my own training. And everything else too.
“Want fro yo?” I asked Carly as we passed Cool Creations. My sister had never turned down chocolate in her life.
She shook her head and sped up, practically leaving me and my broken foot in the dust.
So much for us having a fun, relaxing day.
I intended to speak to the reason we hadn’t shortly. And by the end of that conversation, he would get the message about staying away from me once and for all.
Chapter Twenty